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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.